If you aren’t familiar with the children’s books about Skippyjon Jones you should check them out! (Hennepin County Library) Much like the main character of these stories, Skippyjon has adorable ears and is confused. Skippyjon Jones in the books is a Siamese cat that thinks he is a Chihuahua despite his mother trying to convince him otherwise. Our Skippyjon Jones is a Husky that thought he should live in the impound facility despite the best efforts of the animal control agents to convince him he really should find a home of his own.
Skippyjon came to Minneapolis Animal Control as a stray on May 10 2024. He was described as a pretty typical husky – sometimes vocal, high energy, aloof, yet could also be playful and fun as well. He was described dog social and participated been in lots of playgroups while impounded.
Skippyjon got pre-adopted at an adoption event sponsored by animal control in mid-May but then that fell through. He got neutered and then was available for adoption as of May 22. He has had some interest, but as of late the staff at animal control could not get him into their adoption room. They also tried having him visit people in other rooms like the volunteer room and whenever there were new people, Skippyjon didn’t want anything to do with them. While doing really well with all animal control volunteers and staff, Skippyjon did not want to meet potential adopters. He literally would put on the brakes and would not go up to meet people. He also started to drag volunteers to come back to the impound facility when they took him for walks.
It is a testament to how very hard Skippyjon's life must have been that he thought the shelter life was great and didn't want to leave. MACC pulled him from their adoption page because though they continued to get requests to visit him by members of the public, the staff could not persuade Skippyjon to meet anyone, so he was reserved for rescue partners only. Rescue partners are organizations who partner with Minneapolis Animal Control to help the cats and dogs who might not be able to be offered for adoption straight away due to behavior concerns or medical issues. Home for Life is a rescue partner of MACC but, as we are a care for life sanctuary, we will try only to take animals that other rescue organizations who do adoption have passed on.
Skippyjon got pre-adopted at an adoption event in mid-May but then that fell through. He got neutered and then was available for adoption 5/22/24. He s had some interest, but again shelter staff could not get him into their adoption room to meet anyone.
Huskies are not always easily accepted into programs that are based on the foster to adopt strategy as they are dogs who seem to need more freedom than can sometimes be afforded to them with this rescue model. Huskies are such beautiful dogs, but they seem to have a nature closer to their wild canine cousins and sometimes find suburban or city life intolerable and end up getting returned from adoptions and circulating through rescues and shelters.
In fact, that was what happened with Skippy. Lots of attention, no offers for help.
By late June,2024 Skippyjon was still at the shelter, happy to be there but causing worry to the shelter staff who knew it could not be a permanent situation for this young dog. Finally, a foster stepped up to try out Skippyjon, with the idea of keeping him to adopt but brought him back within days. The complaints were that Skippyjon was mouthy on the leash, wouldn't walk on the leash, wouldn't go outside to use the bathroom and it just wasn't working out. By now it was the end of June, almost July. Animal Control contacted Home for Life to see if we could find a place for Skippyjon- we had suspected with his love of the more structured environment of their facility, he might also feel comfortable at Home for Life. By end of month in June, Skippyjon was on the way to the sanctuary!
Left to right:
Tucker, Jeremiah, Chinook, laying down, Alaska and last but not least, Skippyjon Jones !
He is such a beautiful dog, tall but very slight, only 42 lbs., and seems to have not stopped smiling since he arrived As the animal control staff said, he is a good dog to his bones but just needed a place to belong, For Skippyjon, there seemed to be no adjustment period at all coming to Home for Life and he transitioned to our care seamlessly, as if he had always been a part of the sanctuary. He loves having more freedom and all the daily activity at the sanctuary and truthfully, that we are staffed there 24/7- holidays and weekends included, so we are always around! He loves his pool when we always thought huskies disdained water and swimming. We are grateful to the staff of Minneapolis Animal Control who saw the good in Skippyjon and protected him until he could find his way to us at last.
There is a place in the world for everyone, a place that may be called home. It is a place where even when life seems at a dead end, a dog like Skippyjon can find the stability and safety for a new beginning. Skippyjon is home for life!
Skippyjon Jones came to Home for Life and has thrived in our more structured setting where he can get plenty of exercise and playtime with his roommates Luca a sighthound mix, who was hit by a car and left with a back injury, and Kona a poodle- terrier mix, who is the queen of the group despite being much more diminutive than either of the boys. It is a testament to Skippyjon's wonderful character that he is gentle with Luca and Kona. He has a huge run attached to his townhouse where he can play and be outside any time he likes, running back and forth through his dog door. Skippyjon also loves to play in our off leash meadows with his friends for more robust fun and more room to run. he takes time to warm up to strangers, but does well once he knows someone, so having a stable staff who cares for him and has helped him feel safe and secure, despite his tough start and more reserved and shy nature. Skippyjon Jones is no longer confused about where he belongs, now that he knows he is Home for Life!